tithes - 1cor 9

• Messages sorted by:[ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ]

 
 Bro.  Hanson:
 1CO 9:9  For it is written in the Law of Moses: "Do not muzzle an ox
while it is treading out the grain." Is it about oxen that God is
concerned?

Of course the law was written to help man not the other way around....
 .....It is absolutely ok for the clergy to get paid. It is interesting that
no amount is mentioned here. I can tell you the ox did not eat 10% of
the grain he treaded out or he would get sick. 

 Mike:
  I find it even more interesting that an unmuzzled ox could eat as much as he
wanted.  Perhaps that is the "amount" Paul was referring to here.
 
Bro.  Hanson:
 ...Even in the OT, a levite could not receive tithe on his own or
use it unilaterally without input from other levites.  Incidentally, the
levites for the privilege of getting the tithe, could not be landowners
on individual bases. I wonder what happened to that part of the
levitical tithe now days?
 
 Mike:
 I have not been following this thread very closely but most people don't use
the law as a basis for tithing since (like faith being counted for
righteousness) tithing preexisted the law.  I wonder if the King of Salem
owned land?
 
 Bro.  Hanson:
 
1CO 9:12  If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we
have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we
put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

The apostle is claiming a right to support - not tithe. Just for
arguments sake let's assume he was claiming a right to the tithe that
God commanded in the OT (which is not the case here), how could he
unilaterally say it was up to him to countermand this law of Gods' and
not take it. Wouldn't that put the tither in danger of robbing God?
 
 Mike:
 I don't think so.  If the money was indeed Paul's then it was his prerogative
to spend it as he saw fit.
 
 Bro.  Hanson:
 It has been brought up that somehow these verses are related to the
collection of tithe by the clergy, or at the very least support the
practice. In my opinion they do not do this in any fashion. What they do
support is that the clergy should be paid in some fashion. I prefer that
fashion to be a church board directed salary.
 
 Mike:
 Tithing has biblical precedent, a "church board" or a "church board directed
salary" does not.
 
                               Mike Reed